Fisher Cats Press Release: In an exciting back-and-forth game with playoff implications, Gabe Jacobo was the star of the show for the first six innings against the Portland Sea Dogs on Monday night. The Fisher Cats (66-68) designated hitter homered and drove in three runs to help New Hampshire build a 5-3 lead heading to the seventh. At that point, the Sea Dogs' J.C. Linares became the story, blasting a pair of three-run homers to lift Portland (65-69) to a 10-5 win.

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Portland jumped ahead 3-0 by netting three two-out runs against starter Marcus Walden (ND) over the first three innings of the game. In the fourth, Jacobo and Co. stormed back against Portland starter Mickey Pena (W; 2-0).

Kevin Nolan started the fourth-inning rally with a two-out double to right-center. He scored on a single by Adam Loewen before Jacobo smashed a two-run homer under the scoreboard to tie the game at 3-3.

Over the next two innings, the Fisher Cats took - and added to - the lead. In the fifth, John Tolisano delivered a two-out homer, his fifth, to make it 4-3. A blooper by Jacobo to right field brought home Nolan in the sixth for a two-run cushion at 5-3.

Walden pitched into the seventh, but left the game with two outs and two on. Randy Boone (L; 3-3) took over, worked ahead of Linares 1-2, but then hung a slider, which Linares belted for a go-ahead three-run homer to make the score 6-5.

The Fisher Cats had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, but Ryan Schimpf was thrown out at home trying to score on a bouncing ball with the infield playing in. Portland took advantage, tacking on four more runs in the ninth, the final three on another homer by Linares.

Jacobo extended his hitting streak to ten games going 2-4 and raising his RBI total to 19. Nolan stayed hot with two more hits, giving him 13 over his last nine contests.

Both starters finished the night working 6.2 innings, each allowing five runs. Walden allowed four earned while Pena earned the victory with six strikeouts and no walks.

Despite the loss, New Hampshire remains three games behind the Trenton Thunder in the Wild Card chase with seven games to play. The Fisher Cats are one game ahead of Portland in third place.

The teams meet up for game two on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Ted Williams bobblehead